


Wherefore Art Thou

by bep_bop



Series: Life Isn't All Shakespeare [1]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Angst, Fluff, How Do I Tag, M/M, Might add more tags, Multi, Other, but make it spromeo, hope i dont forget that im writing this, im a sucker for newsies fics, just a casual newsies fic, this'll be fun, too many tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27869965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bep_bop/pseuds/bep_bop
Summary: If someone had told Romeo life was gonna be this hard, he would have quit a long time ago.
Relationships: Albert DaSilva/Elmer Kasprzak, Finch Cortes/Tommy Boy, Jack Kelly/Davey Jacobs, Jojo/Henry/Buttons, Sarah Jacobs/Katherine Pulitzer, Smalls/Sniper, Specs/Romeo, Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins
Series: Life Isn't All Shakespeare [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2040429
Comments: 10
Kudos: 20





	1. Romeo, Oh Romeo

**Author's Note:**

> A fic based around Romeo because I write about Race and Albert way too much :)

The best and worst thing Romeo could remember was playing at the park with his younger sister. Granted she was only a year younger, but Romeo was older and he would wear that badge with pride.

He could remember the happy laughs from his sister and the smile filled with pride from his mother. His dad wasn't really in the picture. He could hear the kids around him playing their own games. He could remember what his sister had said.

"Romeo, oh Romeo! Wherefore art thou!"

It was a cheesy line. Everyone knew it, they had to. It was Shakespeare. But he could remember the smile planted on his sister's face.

He could smell the food from street vendors, he could hear cars honking, music blaring, people yelling. The day was bright and sunny, pollen in the air. It was such a beautiful day. Too bad good things don't last.

They were walking home from the park when Romeo got distracted by a pebble on the ground. He bent down to examine it. He didn't see his mom and sister cross. He didn't see the car coming. He didn't see the impact happen. All he heard were tires screech, screams and a thud.

He saw all the blood. He heard the sirens. He didn't see their faces as they were whisked away.

Romeo was eight when he was sent to a group home for the first time. He could feel the stares on his back as he was taken into a large bunk room.

The caretaker of the place introduced himself as Mr. Kloppman. Romeo didn't really say anything. He just wanted his mom and sister back.

It stormed the first night he had to stay there. It was like he was the only one scared of the storm. Everyone else was peacefully asleep, but Romeo couldn't sit still, he was shaking and crying. Whether it was grief or fear, he didn't know.

He didn't hear a boy from across the room slip out of his bunk and tip toe over. He barely even noticed when a pair of hands grabbed his.

"Hey." A soft voice had whispered.

Romeo looked up to see an older boy gazing at him. The boy had curly blond hair and vibrant blue eyes.

"You alright?" Concern was painted on his face. Romeo shook his head and wrapped his arms around the other boy.

"Hey, hey, you're alright. I'm here for ya bud." The blonde was doing his best to console the broken boy in front of him.

When Romeo had calmed down enough, he still kept his arms around the blonde.

"'M Romeo." He had said in barely above a whisper.

"Nice to meet you Romeo, I'm Anthony. But the folks here know me as Racetrack, Race for short." The boy, Race, had responded.

"That's a lot of names ya got there." Romeo chuckled.

"That is a lot of names, you're right."

Race and Romeo spent the next couple of hours getting to know each other before Race retired to bed.

Romeo still couldn't sleep but this time it was because his mind was swirling with thoughts. He couldn't really get one clear thought, but he was definitely thinking.

When everyone else started waking up in the morning, Romeo stuck by Race's side. He was definitely apprehensive of the rowdy boys swarming the house.

If one of the boys so much as brushed Romeo the wrong way, Race snapped at them. Romeo was definitely grateful for Race's protection but he felt that the other boys were mad at him for taking Race's attention.

When they all gathered for breakfast, Romeo poked at his food and felt like everyone was staring at him. Being the center of attention had never really been a problem for him. He'd always have his sister by his side. But now she was gone. Never coming back.

Race noticed Romeo's lethargic behavior, he ended up poking Romeo in the side and whispering a joke. That seemed to do the trick. Romeo ate a couple bites of his food. Race was satisfied. He knows how bad it is to go on no sleep and no breakfast.

After the meal, Race dragged Romeo over to a boy fiddling with a broomstick. The boy's shirt was missing all of its buttons.

"Hey Buttons!" Race grabbed the other's attention, "Meet Romeo!"

Buttons looked over at Romeo and his eyes lit up. "Hi Romeo! I'm Buttons!" He offered a hand to Romeo to shake. Romeo was admittedly a little nervous, but he shook the boy's hand nonetheless.

"I'm Romeo. I'm eight years old."

Buttons grinned at Romeo, "Well Ro! Race is nine and I'm eight and a half!" Buttons definitely had a lot of energy.

"Ro?"

"It's a nickname!" Race explained, "Since we don't really know you enough to give you a nickname like ours!"

Romeo didn't have the heart to explain to them that Romeo isn't his real name. It was a nickname given to him by his mom since he always tried to flirt with girls. He's only gone by Romeo for about two years. He hasn't really gone by his actual name except when legal things come up. (Not that he understands what legal even means)

Race and Buttons spent the day getting Romeo to break out of his shell. Buttons didn't have much success, but Race made wonderful progress with the eight year old.

That night, Race and Romeo had stayed up, sitting on Romeo's bed just talking about anything that came to mind.

"Hey Race?" Romeo started.

"Yeah?" Race faced the young boy next to him.

"Can I call you Tony? I think Tony is nicer than Race."

Race rolled it around his head, he'd known some of the other boys longer and they didn't get Tony permission. But they never really reminded him of his brother as much as Romeo does.

"Sure, you can call me Tony."

Romeo cracked a smile and just let his brain absorb the information.

"Hey Ro, if I may ask, what's your real name?"

"Um..." Romeo suddenly felt very small and alone. Being honest, he doesn't pay attention to legal thing and he hasn't gone by it in a long time. He doesn't really remember his name.

"I... I don't really remember it..."

Race took a moment to process what Romeo had just said. But when he did, he shook it off. Romeo was a normal enough name that people won't suspect it's a nickname.

Over the next year, Romeo and Race grew to be almost like brothers. They were closer than anyone else in the group home.

Then they got sent to a foster home.


	2. All That Glitters Is Not Gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being a kid in foster care is hard. Not having great caretakers is even harder.

As soon as Romeo got sent to a foster home, he realized things aren't going to get better.

He was only nine but he'd already lost his family and he was separated from Race.

He was sent to live with a couple and their son. Their son was Romeo's age so it was nice to have someone to hang out with. Except things didn't go that way.

Romeo had a very strict schedule to follow and he almost never got free time to talk to the other boy. All he knew was that the other boy was nine, his name was Patrick and he liked birds.

From what Romeo could tell, Patrick didn't have a schedule as strict as Romeo's. It angered him, they were fostering him! That doesn't mean they get to treat him like he's a slave!

Weekdays went like this:

-Wake up at 6am

-Get ready for the day 6:00-6:15

-Make and eat breakfast 6:15-6:30

-Clean up the house a bit 6:30-7:00

-Walk with Patrick to school 7:00-7:45

He wasn't allowed to stray away from that schedule in the mornings. Afternoons were worse.

-Walk home with Patrick 2:45-3:30

-Do Homework 3:30-4:30

-Read 4:30-4:45

-Do Chores 4:45-5:10

-Eat dinner 5:10-5:35

-Get ready for bed 5:35-6:00

-Bedtime 6:30

He only got half an hour of free time at night and Patrick never seemed to want to talk to him. It hurt Romeo a lot. He just wanted a family as loving as his own or a friend as nice Race.

He did have to give the Cortes family some kudos though, he never failed a class and he aced all his tests.

Romeo stayed with the Cortes' until sixth grade. Then he was moved into another group home. This one was nothing like the first one. The warden was Mr. Snyder and he was a prick.

Snyder had a schedule just like the Cortes family did but if you even put a toe out of line, you got punished.

School was a major relief for all the kids under Snyder's care. School was so much more lenient.

On Romeo's first day of his new school, he dreaded lunch time. He didn't really know anyone from the group home too well and he doesn't know anyone at this school.

He ended up sitting alone, until he noticed someone slip into a seat by him. He looked up and saw it was a boy from his math class. He has an eyepatch which Romeo finds pretty cool.

"Hi!" The kid enthusiastically greeted.

"Hello." Romeo shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm Louis! But my friends call me Blink!" This kid just did not give up.

"'M Romeo. That's what my old friend used t' call me."

"Romeo! Like Romeo from 'Romeo and Juliet'?"

"Yeah. That's where Romeo came from." Romeo looked at Louis, he was grinning like a madman.

"My friends'll be coming here from the lunch line! You'll like them!"

"Who said I wanna meet your friends?" He glared at the enthusiastic boy in front of him.

"Well we're in middle school! You need friends to protect you!"

"Yeah right. I've been fending for myself for a while. I'll be fine." Romeo rolled his eyes.

Louis let out a sigh of frustration and pouted. That expression quickly went away though, because his friends were finally making their way to the table.

"Jojo! Henry!" Louis had called to them. The boys smiled and slid into the seats around him.

"This is Romeo, he's not very exciting though."

Romeo could feel Jojo and Henry's eyes burning into his back.

 _"What?"_ Romeo groaned.

They didn't respond, they just looked away from Romeo. Then Henry spoke up.

"Didn't Buttons tell us that he knew a Romeo!?" Henry was buzzing with excitement.

Romeo perked up at that statement. Buttons. One of the boys from his first group home. He remembers Buttons. He was always nice and willing to teach Romeo new things.

"Did you say Buttons?" Romeo tentatively asked the three.

"Yeah," Jojo started, "He's getting lunch time tutoring today but he should be here tomorrow. You know him?"

"Yeah! I-I know him. He was a great friend! There was another boy, he went by Race."

Jojo, Henry and Blink glanced at each other. This kid knows Buttons and Race but he doesn't know any of the others.

Romeo continued on, "Race was like a brother to me! Last I saw him, I was nine. I miss him a lot."

"Well," Blink began slowly, "You could hang out with us after school and meet them."

Romeo sighed and put his head on the table, "I'd really like to but I can't. I gotta go straight home after school."

"Aw man." Henry groaned, "We'll talk to you at lunch tomorrow, then."

"Sounds like a plan!" Romeo grinned before going to throw away his lunch. (Which he forgot to eat)

After school, Romeo dragged himself back to Snyder's group home. He sat down on his bunk and quickly did his homework. Though he couldn't really focus. His mind kept wandering away from his current task.

When he finished his homework, he did what was assigned to him for the day. (Cleaning the bathroom) When everything was finally done, he flopped on his bunk and ended up drifting off to sleep.

The next morning went the same as it's always been before Romeo headed off to school. In History, a random kid ran into the classroom, blasting All Star by Smash Mouth.

He got in trouble, as he deserved and class went on as usual.

"Yooo," Blink whispered to Romeo.

"What?" Romeo didn't understand why Blink was so happy from that.

"That was Albert, he's in the grade above us and he'll randomly walk into classrooms to waste time."

"Cool."

"Romeo, Louis." The teacher scolded them, "Do you have something to share with the class?"

"No Mr. Jordan" the two chorused.

At lunch, the same three boys from yesterday sat by Romeo. They were all talking when a fourth came by.

"Albert got detention. Again." Was the first thing he said.

Romeo looked at the boy and he instantly recognized the face as Buttons.

"Hey Buttons!" Jojo grabbed his attention. "You may or may not know him, but this is Romeo!"

Buttons looked at Romeo, his face contorting into confusion before ending in recognition.

"Ro!"

"Hey Buttons!" Seats shifted as Buttons chose to sit next to Romeo.

"How you been man?" Buttons asked.

"I've been alright. Stayed with this kid Patrick and his folks for a while before getting sent to Snyder's." Romeo shrugged and averted his gaze.

"Aw man, I'm sorry Ro, this nice couple decided I was their new son since they couldn't have kids and that was that."

"Dude, Benj, Snyder is so mean. He's always yellin' and smackin' kids across the face for forgetting to do a chore."

"Benj?" Buttons questioned.

"What? Are we no longer on first name basis?" Romeo raised an eyebrow.

"Oh we are, Jojo, Henry and Blink don't know my real name."

Speaking of the three, they were immersed in their own conversation as Buttons and Romeo caught up.

"Well, I don't know my real name so joke's on them."

"At this point, you may as well change your legal name to Romeo."

"Might as well."

Buttons and Romeo talked as much as they could for the rest of the day before Romeo once again, had to go back to Snyder's.


	3. Hell Is Empty And The Devils Are Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Romeo wants to see his friends. But there are problems with that. He also meets a cute new boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol hey guys im writing like 3 things at once and I didn't know what to write so that's why this took so long.

Romeo had never ever liked Snyder's group home. It wasn't the quality of the place, oh no, it was Snyder himself. You got sent to sleep in a room by yourself if you had been bad by his standards. "Bad" was talking out of turn, late leaving or getting home, forgetting to do a chore or not doing a chore well enough. It was torture.

Slowly but surely, Romeo got to know a couple of the boys there. There was Boots, he was a year younger than Romeo but that didn't really change anything. Boots and Romeo got into controlled chaos on their weekends off. There was also Mush, he was pretty quiet around everyone but once he had warmed up to Romeo he talked to him (Romeo) constantly.

Romeo's first time sneaking out was possibly the scariest thing he'd ever done. He had picked the lock on the window in the bunk room and slipped out. He was meeting up with Buttons and Race.

He pried the window open as quietly as he could, he silently climbed out and closed the window behind him. With a smile on his face, he went down the fire escape and went to his meetup spot with Buttons.

"Hey Ben!" Romeo greeted as he jogged over.

"Hi Ro! You ready?" Buttons wrapped his friend in a hug.

"Hell yeah I am!" Buttons laughed at Romeo's enthusiasm.

"We're just going a couple more blocks, it's not too far from here."

"Alright!"

The two walked in silence to their meetup spot with Race, both stuck in their own minds. Romeo was worried that Race wouldn't want to be his friend or even remember him. His worries were washed away when he felt someone crash into him and wrap their arms around him.

"Racer." Romeo whispered as he wrapped his arms around the taller boy.

"It's been way too long Ro." Race pulled away from the hug and gazed at the boy in front of him.

Race turned his stare to Buttons and wrapped him in a hug as well.

"I'm glad that y'all were finally able to come on out to see little old me."

Buttons and Romeo laughed, Race hadn't changed one bit. He was still a complete and utter dumbass.

The three sat on a fire escape nearby and talked for a bit.

"How's everyone been?" Race started.

"You already know how I've been." Buttons rolled his eyes, Race chuckled and nodded.

"Ro?" Race faced the boy next to him who'd been staring at his feet the whole time.

"I stayed with this family for a bit, the Cortes family, then I got sent back to a group home. Snyder's to be exact. It's horrible there, I hate it so much."

Race and Buttons frowned at him. "Tell me about the Cortes'." Race said to take Romeo's mind off of Snyder.

"Oh." Romeo's face fell. "Well, they had a really strict schedule and they treated me like a servant compared to their son Patrick." Buttons and Race exchanged glances. They both had gotten it easy compared to Romeo.

"Well," Romeo continued. "They weren't mean per se. They just, they didn't really care about me. It's fine though! I got outta there."

Romeo was about to say more when he glanced at Buttons' watch. "Shit. I gotta get back, I'll see you guys later."

Romeo hopped off the fire escape and booked it back to Snyder's. He swiftly climbed up his own fire escape before opening the window and sliding back inside. He shut the window and relocked it with the pin he had used to unlock it. Nobody had to know that he left. Well Mush knew.

Romeo was greeted with a wide-eyed Mush staring at his skillful entrance. Romeo sheepishly smiled at him before pulling the covers over himself and drifting off to sleep. Though he didn't sleep for very long because Snyder walked in and woke them all up.

Romeo groaned and pulled himself out of bed. Just one morning where they didn't have to wake up early, that's all he wants.

Mush pulled him aside as they were all getting ready.

"Hey." Romeo turned to face the boy in front of him.

"Yeah?"

"Where'd you go last night? I saw you sneaking back in."

"Oh." Romeo didn't want to explain but he can't just be sneaking around and expect not to get caught. "I went with some friends. Hadn't seen one of 'em in a while so we caught up."

"Don't do that." Mush scolded.

"Why not? It's not like I got caught."

"Yeah but you could have. Just wait until the weekend."

Romeo scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Like Snyder will let me go."

"It's worth a shot!"

Romeo shrugged and finished getting ready for the day. Before he went off to school, he met up with Boots and Mush. The two chatted away as Romeo stayed quiet.

He was thinking about how he could see Race and Buttons without getting in trouble. The weekend would be way easier than sneaking out. But, he could also just get back late and say he joined a club. That wasn't unheard of, plenty of people joined after school clubs.

Romeo was pulled out of his thoughts when he saw a boy standing in the front hall, looking lost. Romeo said his goodbyes to Mush and Boots before jogging up to the new boy.

"Hey!" He greeted. The boy jumped and whirled around to face Romeo.

"Oh, hi." He held his hand out for a handshake which Romeo gladly accepted.

"I'm Romeo, you look lost. Need help?"

"Actually, yeah. I'm new here and I can't find my first class." The boy adjusted his glasses and looked around at the hallway.

Romeo checked the boy's schedule and frowned a bit. He's older than Romeo by a year.

"Something wrong?" He asked, gaining Romeo's attention again.

"Oh! You're older than me, but I still know where your class is. You'll probably meet a boy, Racetrack, he goes by Race. Tell him that Romeo sent you and he can show you to the rest of your classes!" Romeo rambled on as he led the boy to his class.

"Thanks Romeo. I appreciate it." He smiled at Romeo.

"Hey wait, I never caught your name!"

"Ah, right. Julien. My name is Julien."

"Nice to meet you Julien. See you later!" Romeo waved goodbye once Julien was at his class.

Maybe today would be a good day.


	4. Brevity Is The Soul Of Wit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Romeo's straight up not having a good time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hee hoo look I actually wrote some shit

Romeo was wrong. Today was in fact, not a good day. He was constantly zoning out in class and tapping his foot. He got in trouble a couple times because the other students were complaining. But it's not like he could just stop what he was doing, the tapping was all subconscious. He also kept running his mouth and asking questions, his classmates were not enthused about that.

"Hey shortstuff." One of Romeo's classmates, Ben called out to him after English.

Romeo turned to face the source of the voice. "Yeah?"

"Learn to shut your trap." Ben harshly brushed past Romeo, almost knocking him over. He watched as Ben stormed down the hallway, he didn't mean to bother any of his classmates. He was just having a hard day.

Romeo tried to tone down the questions and the tapping for the rest of the day, but he just couldn't focus for the life of him. His brain was off in a different direction every thirty seconds and he didn't know what they were doing. Multiple times, he was asked by friends if we was okay and he just nodded. This was his problem and he needed to take care of it.

At the end of the day, Julien came up to Romeo again.

"Hey Romeo!"

"Hi Julien!"

"I just wanted to say thanks for helping me out this morning." Julien averted his gaze to the ground.

"Ah, it's no biggie. I should probably get going home now. See you tomorrow man." Romeo really didn't feel like talking, not when he was having a hard time focusing on anything.

"See ya Ro." Julien waved before parting ways with him.

Now, that afternoon was extremely difficult for our friend Romeo. He couldn't focus on any chores or homework and any scolding went in one ear and out the other. Because he couldn't really focus, Snyder sent him into the "solitary confinement" room to think about what he's done.

If you asked Romeo what happened in that room, he probably couldn't tell you a thing. Not that he was sworn to secrecy, he had just disassociated the whole time and remembered nothing.

At one point in the middle of the night, he half expected Mush to show up and give him a bite of food or something, but nobody came. In the morning, Snyder let him out and sent him off to school without breakfast.

Romeo could hardly focus that day either, he had gotten no dinner or breakfast and he hadn't slept the night before.

"Ro, you can't stay there." Buttons had told him at lunch after he explained the situation.

"It's not like I can just leave. Someone's gotta come and magically whisk me out of there."

"You could be put back into the foster system!" Jojo piped up. Romeo rolled his eyes and sighed.

"I don't like the foster system. Last time I was there, I was stuck with sucky people.

"C'mon Ro-" Henry started before Romeo interrupted him.

"Don't even tell me that 'not all new people are bad' I hate people. This kid in my class, Ben, hates me. He's a jerk."

"Okay, what about Julien?" Henry asked, Romeo turned bright red and looked away.

"Leave him outta this. He'll probably end up being a dick anyways."

"C'mon Romeo, sure some people are mean. But you gotta branch out, talk to more people!"

"No thanks, I tried that one time and it sucked. I officially am not talking to any new people for the rest of my life."

"Like who?" Buttons stared at the boy.

"Well, there was this kid Evan, he didn't like me, this girl Madison wouldn't talk to me and then a bitch named Sean didn't even pay attention to me. So yeah, people suck."

Jojo, Henry, Blink and Buttons all exchanged glances before giving up on telling Romeo to meet new people. He obviously doesn't trust them.

Romeo took their silence as an indicator that he talks too much.

"I uhm, sorry, I'll go now." He quickly said before throwing out his unfinished lunch and leaving the cafeteria.

In his last class of the day, a startling announcement rang through the classroom.

"Romeo Derosa to the front office please."

Romeo was hesitant about grabbing his things, but he still got up and went to the office. When he got there, he was greeted by Snyder and an unfamiliar but eerily familiar face.

"Angelus."

The name hung in the air, like a poisonous fog. It seemed to even work like poisonous fog, the room seemed very stifling all of a sudden and Romeo couldn't breathe.

"...Dad?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, Romeo has an actual name now! Angelus (Romeo) Sky Derosa  
> (yeah his middle name is Sky)  
> also his dad is back or sumn  
> go yell at me on tumblr @beep-bop-on-a-worm-to-zanta-fe


	5. These Violent Delights Have Violent Ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Romeo's dad is back and everything is wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw- Depressive thoughts  
> (Sorry Romeo)

Panic started to bubble up inside of Romeo. The man who abandoned him for most of his life was suddenly standing in front of him, ready to take him.

"No, nonono-" Romeo was panicking. He tried to back away but there was a security guard standing by the door.

"We're leaving."

"No. I'm not going with you." Romeo protested. "You walked out on me. You can't just show up out of nowhere and expect me to welcome you with open arms."

"Well I'm taking you with me. We're leaving now."

Romeo opened his mouth to protest but his father grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the school building. Fear took over as he sat in the backseat of a car. He was going with someone who doesn't care about him, someone who never bothered to check on him. Something about his father has an ominous aura. He doesn't trust this man.

When they reached the apartment, Romeo was shown to his room and locked in. The walls were a pale blue, the bed made to look like a hotel bed. A bookshelf lined one wall with a desk in the corner. Romeo decided that he hates this new room. He'd rather be at the group home.

He carefully set his backpack down by the bed. He gazed around the room and supposed with a little decoration it couldn't be too horrible. But everything felt wrong. Sure, Snyder treated him like the lowest of the low, but suddenly he was presented with a life a little too perfect. His father randomly showed up and gave him a nice bedroom, he even has a window that leads to a fire escape. Surely something was wrong. Everything is too pristine.

"Angelus!" He heard his dad call, Romeo mentally rolled his eyes. He hadn't gone by that in ages. "I expect you to look nice for dinner tonight! After all, it is your first night home."

Romeo shuddered as he heard that last word. Home. This isn't home. Nowhere is home. Home is the apartment with his mom and sister. Not this apartment with a stranger he barely even knows. Home is with Kloppman, Tony and Buttons. Not Snyder's disgusting excuse for a group home.

Even as the hours creeped past, the room didn't sit right with Romeo. Everything felt cold and harsh, unlike with his mom and sister, where his room felt warm and comforting. Though dinner came and went, no catastrophes happened.

As weeks turned into months, Romeo's anxieties grew instead if disappearing. His father was never emotionally available. Each and every day, Romeo got closer and closer to snapping. He stopped socializing as much and got consumed by his own thoughts.

One particular day at school, Romeo was shaking. He didn't know why, he was just shaking uncontrollably, he was finally approaching his breaking point. Buttons had barely brushed his shoulder at lunch and he dissolved into tears. The table went quiet at Romeo's sudden breakdown. Nobody had been expecting it, and they all felt guilty for not noticing it earlier.

"Ro, I'm so-" Buttons tried to apologize, but Romeo shook him off. He excused himself from the table and hid away from everyone. The guilt was settling in.

He felt horrible for just blowing up like that. He had tried his best to keep a smile on his face for everyone, he's the funny friend. But now they all feel pity. They shouldn't have to pity him. It's his own problems, why should he drag others into it?

When he had gotten home that afternoon, he retreated into his room. His father didn't even say a word. As Romeo looked at the pale, almost colorless walls, he let it out. He cried because this wasn't how anything was supposed to go. He was supposed to have his mom and sister with him, not a stranger for a father. He was supposed to let his friends have the key to him, but he locked them out. He felt so pathetic, so useless.

When he didn't leave his room for dinner, his father stood in his doorway, arms crossed, a cold glare on his face that could bring the room to freezing temperatures.

"Why didn't you join me for dinner tonight?"

"I couldn't, I can't." Romeo was struggling to find words, just the way the man's anger was so calm, it filled him with fear.

"Join me tomorrow." His father calmly shut the door and locked it.

Romeo started sobbing as he climbed onto his bed. Everything was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. The only thing to make things right, would be if he was with his mom and sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yell at me on tumblr @albert-damnsilva-kinda-fucks


End file.
